A Comforting Fall Dish: Pumpkin Risotto

Summer has officially gone. The color of the city has changed from bright green to the crispy brown. I can find kinds of fruits on the trees in the Tuscany countryside: apples, pears, pomegranate, olives…… It is the harvest season, it is the feast period!

pomegranate on the tree

olives ready to be tasted

I like cooking, and as a person married to an Italian, it is even harder to resist preparing dinner for family. Mastering some Italian cuisine is necessary for me, and I am constantly learning either from my in-laws, or from the Italian chef’s YouTube channel. Recently I have proudly achieved a new milestone in cooking Italian dish: the risotto!!!

I’ve been addicted to risotto with vegetable sauce recently, and a seasonal one being the pumpkin sauce. To save you from a long post, let’s get to the point and see the steps of cooking!!!

Pan on the stove, olive oil in! Roughly chop the garlic and onion, and then put them into the pan.

When the garlic and onion are sweating in the hot pan, put in the pumpkin cubes.

Stir, add pinch of salt and pepper. Mix everything together.

Pour in the white wine, and let it boil in the pan. Remember:

the wine you drink is the wine you use to cook. There is no such thing as “cooking wine”!

This is a cooking theory of my favorite chef Gennaro Contaldo, and I couldn’t agree more!

When the wine is almost gone, add in some stock to cover up all the ingredients. Turn down a bit the fire and let it cook for about 20 – 30 minutes.

Now the pumpkin is soft and cooked, put the rice into the pan and mix everything together.

Add in stock to cover up the ingredients. Let it slowly cook until the stock is absorbed by the rice.

Repeat Step7 three to four times, until the rice is well cooked.

Taste to see if more salt is needed.

Chop some parsley and put it into the pan. Fire off. Cover the lid and let it rest for 3 – 5 minutes.

Next thing you know is a big plate of hot pumpkin risotto on your table! Enjoy it together with a glass of white wine (can be the same you use for cooking, why not?), the sweet and salty flavors make it such comforting dish.